

Friday, March 16, 2012

Grain-Free Crackers... Almond Thins

Grain-Free Crackers... Almond Thins. My fascination with crackers continues:)... If you've been following me for some time now, you would have probably noticed that I love making crackers... all sorts of crackers. I think the cracker "bug" bit me when I first made my very own Parmesan sesame crackers... years ago.

The Parmesan Sesame Crackers were first created after I noticed I had run out of crackers one day. Decided then to find a recipe and try my hand at making them at home. That's also when I realized that I could flavor the crackers any way I wanted. Made my first batch of crackers with plenty of seeds and some grated Parmesan.... After tasting them, I quickly realized that homemade crackers are the best!

So even though I've made plenty of crackers since then, I realized all of them contain flour as a major ingredient. But lately I've been wanting to make some crackers that are grain-free. Even though I'm not on any grain-free/gluten-free/vegetarian diet, I still enjoy eating as healthy as possible. I love being able to have a recipe for crackers that contain minimal ingredients and are homemade. But could there really be a cracker recipe that contained no wheat flour? Did a quick search and found out that there was such a cracker... and so simple to make!

Had to file this recipe under my cracker recipes. Can you believe making a cracker with just 2 ingredients? O.K. maybe 3 ... if you include the salt. These crackers qualify for those on Paleo/Gluten-free/Grain-free diets... and any of us who love crackers. And it probably took me less than a half hour to make. I should mention that a few of these crackers go a long way... quite filling. But too good not to share:). Actually, they are simply amazing! Hope you enjoy...

NoteDepending on the size of your egg white, you may need to add a bit more almond meal to bring it to the right consistency... mentioned it below. I kept some of the crackers in an airtight container and they stay crisp. I wouldn't keep them out too long(weeks), as nuts can get rancid quickly.
I haven't made this recipe with soaked and dried almonds... but I am thinking it should still work.

Tip: Feel free to add a bit of seasoning, like cayenne, paprika, onion powder, etc. You can add other small seeds... sesame, poppy, flax seeds, etc.
It's best to roll out the dough as thinly as possible... though if you like them thicker, just bake longer.

You will need: inspired by Caveman Food

1 cup raw almonds, ground finely*
1 egg white
pinch of salt, or to taste
*you can use store-bought almond meal(1 cup+/-)

1. PREHEAT OVEN TO 350 deg.F.
2. Finely grind almonds(I used my Vita-mix). Measure out 1 cup almond meal (use a spoon to measure) and place in a bowl. You will have a bit of leftover almond meal... just set it aside.
3. To the 1 cup almond meal add a pinch of salt(I used sea salt) and the egg white. Mix with a fork to fully incorporate.
4. If mixture is too wet, add some of the reserved almond meal a TBS at a time until the mixture resembles thick peanut butter... and you can form it into a ball without it being too sticky. I ended up using all of the reserved almond meal( maybe another 1/4 cup) as my egg white was from an ex-large egg.
5. Place the ball of almond mixture between 2 large parchment papers and roll out very thin...the thinner, the crispier the cracker.
6. Cut squares( or any shape you prefer) using a sharp knife... (you can roll and cut the cracker dough on the back of a parchment-lined baking sheet... or you could roll them out on the counter and then place the crackers(with bottom parchment paper) onto a preheated baking stone... which is what I ended up doing).
7. Bake crackers until lightly golden... 5-8 minutes depending on thickness. Don't over-brown. Keep a close eye on them as they bake. They can quickly burn. You may need to watch and remove crackers that brown earlier, especially if the dough is not evenly rolled out.
8. Allow crackers to cool... they will continue to crisp up a bit. They aren't overly crunchy... more like tender-crisp, if that's a word:).


Andrea the Kitchen Witch said...

Your cheese crackers were the first thing I made from your blog. I love them - if these are half as good as the cheese ones, I'm sold! I love the idea of an almond cracker. As always, great recipe Ellie! I can't wait to try it!

dognamedblue said...

I've been looking for "thins" in the supermarkets where I live for months now but no one has any... will have to give this recipe a try, thank you :)

Ellie said...

Andrea, Oh, am so glad you liked the cheese crackers... these crackers are really good too. They aren't cheesy, but sort of remind me of the wheat thins I made awhile back. A great alternative to wheat crackers... and quite simple to prepare. Hope you like them as much as we did.

Dognamedblue, You are welcome:)... I'm hoping you will like them as well.
I noticed grain-free crackers are quite expensive at our regular natural foods store. So making them at home is quite convenient, as I always seem to have almonds on hand. Plus, they aren't that difficult to make.
I've ground some almonds and placed about 1 cup ground almonds in individual baggies... froze them, so next time I just need to mix the dough, roll it out, and bake.

Speranta said...

Esti de apreciat tot ce faci!!!

Voi incerca sa prepar aceasta reteta.Imi place foarte muuult...

Multumesc pentru reteta.

O saptamana placuta iti doresc !

Ellie said...

Speranta, Sper sa iti placa si tie. Nu este greu de facut... doar trebuie sa te uite la ei cand se coc ... sa nu se arda.
Mi-au placut foarte mult...
Multumesc de vizita... si iti doresc un weekend placut, si tie!